These are the end of year gifts I put together for my sons' teachers. I really struggled with what to do this year to thank their teachers. Teachers everywhere had unimaginable obstacles suddenly thrust upon them with coronavirus. How do you teach a classroom of kids through virtual learning with no prep? They were truly heroes this year! The saddest part was how much my kids adored their teachers this year, only to have their time with them cut short.
In the end I put together small, but heartfelt gifts. Inside each of the packages are one of my favorite little floral notebooks from Target, along with some nice chocolates (their favorite if I knew). I wrapped the gifts in brown postal paper and decorated them with the beautiful
Small Peony die from The Stamp Market. This first one was my first time using the peony die so I kept it simple. I die cut both the large and small petals twice, all from Pink Pirouette card stock. I die cut the stamen piece from Daffodil Delight, and the leaf from Always Artichoke. Before assembling, I curled each petal upwards around a pencil to give it shape, then hot glued each layer together. It was amazing watching the flower come to life as the layers were added!
The tag is die cut with the
Sketched Shapes banner die, and stamped with the sentiment from Keep it Simple: Teacher. Each of their teachers truly was special this year!
For the next two flowers, I experimented a bit more with the peony die. My oldest son's teacher loves the color purple, so I made sure to make her gift have a purple flower.
This time I cut the largest petal four times, twice with the darkest purple card stock (Eggplant Envy) and twice with the midtone purple card stock (a generic card stock from Michael's). The smallest petal was cut twice, like I did in the with the first flower, out of Mauve Mist. I was playing around with a fuller bloom and also creating a gradation of color.
The stamen is again die cut from Daffodil delight, but this time I used New Leaf card stock for the leaf. The tag is just the same.
The last flower is again different. The largest outer petals are only cut twice, out of Regal Rose card stock, but the smaller petal is die cut three times. I cut it twice from Pretty in Pink and once from Pink Pirouette. Again, I was experimenting with more layers and a gradation of dark to light petals.
The stamen for this flower was cut from True Black card stock. Of the three versions I can't decide which is my favorite. Which one do you like best?
These peonies were truly beautiful in real life, and so easy to put together! I was so happy with how beautiful they made the gift presentation. Thank you so much to all of the teachers out there! You are so appreciated!!
SUPPLIES:
Stamps: Keep it Simple: Teacher (PTI)
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Eggplant Envy, Mauve Mist, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Always Artichoke (SU!), New Leaf (PTI), white
Dies: Small Peony (The Stamp Market), Sketched Shapes (PTI)
Other: hot glue
